I Could Never Let Go
by PassionandPromise
Summary: Set after the Pirates win the World Jam, and Moose invites Camille out to a formal NYU dance. When Camille doesn't show up right away, and worse comes to the stage, what happens afterwards? Drabble, serious, serious drabble that I wanted to write 'cause I was in a sleepy mood...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:: **Hey guys! Here's another one for the Moose and Camille fans! Thank you so much for all the follows and PMs about **I Finally Let You**. Truly, guys, I didn't expect anyone to like it or want to read it, so thanks again for your continued support! Love you all!

* * *

**I Could Never Let Go**

Faceless masks of white and darkened masks of black covered his eyes in between shades of grey. He watched them mill around his body, a crossroads that went nowhere as he stood in the centre of the room, waiting for Camille to surface from this place of strangers. The music wallowed through the air, a soft yet sweet lullaby that would rock the hardest criminal to sleep, and on the dance floor, the dancers were waltzing slowly, gently rocking to the rhythm that stirred their hearts and spoke to their souls.

He pocketed his hands, searching the endless crowds for the one girl he came here for, yet couldn't find. He sighed, raking a hand through his curly hair and biting his lip. Maybe he should just go home. Or go to the Vault. He really didn't want to be here by himself, not if she wasn't here at all. She was more than an hour late, and as the time ticked by with ease, his heart picked up with unease.

He should go by her dorm, check and see if she was okay. She probably didn't want to come to the dance anyway, and just forgot to tell him. He inched his way through the crowd, dense as they were, all dressed in different colours and wearing different masks. One of the boys, he smirked, was wearing a Hallowe'en mask, carrying the hand of a girl who was laughing while pointing at him. Damn, he should've done that.

Just as he found the exit sign, someone from behind him tapped his shoulder. He glanced backways to see Kristen as she pulled her mask off, an expression of worry on her face. She wore a beautiful dress of black, all puffy and girly, he noted, something Camille would love. Heck, she probably helped her pick out the thing. Kristen looked at him a second longer, before she asked, "Is Camille not with you? She left the dorm over a half hour ago, just before me."

Moose stopped. He felt his heart stop beating, because in that second, he felt a cold sliver of something grasp his stomach, and a shiver rippled down his spine. He took his hands out of his pockets, his mouth opening and then closing as he fidgeted around for his phone. This wasn't like Cam at all. She'd ring him if something was up. Kristen saw her answer written all over his face, and rushed to find her phone, hoping she'd find a text or even a voicemail to explain where her friend was.

Moose opened his phone and dialled her number, but just as he placed the phone to his ear, it went straight to voicemail. Cursing suddenly, he said, "Kristen, stay here and keep an eye on your phone. If Cam rings, text me." He didn't wait for her to answer, he merely turned and ran for it, out of the ballroom and into the corridors of NYU. He juggled past the crowds, earning a fw curses and threats in the process, but he couldn't care for that now. He needed to find Camille.

The air was crisp and cold, and threatened snow. He threw on his black jacket, and shivered still once he was nestled inside it. His breath made small marshmallows in the air, but he forgot that while his eyes searched the grounds for her. His heart pounded and his head pumped as the tension in his stomach began to increase. Without hesitation, he started to walk purposefully toward the dorms in the hopes of finding her somewhere there. He should've waited for her at her dorm in the first place.

He should never have agreed to let her come here by herself.

He took out his phone and dialled her number again, just as a set of teenagers walked by him, all laughing and joking. Now, their masks and carefree humour were lost on him, and just as he turned a sharp corner in the direction of the dorms, he stopped, and listened. Her phone wasn't answering again, but it was deadly silent down this darkened street. There was no-one about out here, and in comparison to the messes of people who were milling around the grounds just beyond here, it felt as cutting and as scary as the setting of a horror movie.

"Camille?" he called out, defying his sudden uneasy fear. He started to walk again, down this narrow path. "Camille? Can you hear me?" The trees that shaded this area during the day, were sinister in the night, and seemed to stretch upwards for forever, their branchy fingers cascading down to him, pointing to him. It was eerie, and he didn't like the sudden drop in atmosphere. Almost like second nature, he felt she was here, somewhere, and his lungs felt like spasming.

"Camille?!"

He stopped when he heard a rustle, and looked all around him, wondering where it came from. "Camille?" he called again, just as he dialled her number, placing the phone to his ear. Something faintly began to ring from far off, and Moose kept to the path, before he turned sharply to the right, digging his hands through the dense flowers and thorns, scratching his fingers just as he saw a mass of silvery white, a cloud descended upon solid earth.

His eyes widened and he stepped forward, catching his foot on a twine of bramble just as he pitched downward, landing on his hands and knees. "C-Camille?" he whispered, trying to swallow down the fear and dread that swam in his stomach and rose up his throat, trying to ignore the far off sounds of people cackling like witches over the blasted cauldron, trying to pretend Camille hadn't been here the entire time he waited for her at the dance. Oh, God.

"Camille? Can you hear me?" he placed both his hands on her bare arms, and rocked her gently. She didn't answer, and her skin was cold. His heart leaped at him then, and more urgently, he repeated her name, his hands trembling just slightly. She twitched under his touch, and he pried her hair, which had fallen around her face, away, to see her. Her eyes were closed, but under the darkened light, he could make out the prints of bruises, snaking through her soft skin like caresses from the devil who gave them to her.

He jolted, and his voice rose an octave again. He needed her to wake up, but he was afraid to move her. "Camille! Please, you have to open your eyes, please!" He tapped her shoulder, just close to her face, and she moaned, squeezing her eyes shut. Her body moved slightly, but she went under darkness again and remained motionless. She was breathing fine, but he was deathly scared. He couldn't think. His mind raced. His heartbeat sounded the quiet ground he stood on. His eyes watered.

Who done this to her?

Even though his hands were faintly bleeding from falling over the thorns earlier, he ignored his stomach-curling fears and scooped Camille up effortlessly. She didn't move this time, and her limb body was motionless under his suddenly moving one. Her head rolled onto his shoulder, and the beautiful dress she wore only emphasised the darkened skin of her body.

Someone had beat her up. Someone could've-

Oh no, his eyes widened, before he shook his head. His breath came in rasps, but he ignored them.

The Vault wasn't too far from here.

**xxxxxxx**

Anala heard the Ticks before she saw them, and she groaned when they came into view. She groaned because they were followed by the Santiago twins, who were arguing over something that had nothing to do with her.

Jason sighed along with her when she heard the famous line-

"C'mon, man, what would Jesus do?"

"Jesus would probably tell you not to go taking others' property," one of the Santiago twins garbled out, just as the other one joined in-

"Yes, and he'd also say that threesomes are forbidden, so stop praying to him."

Anala choked on her Coke, and Jason barked a laugh as everyone went quiet. Vladd walked into the kitchen and looked around at the scene: the twins were staring down the Ticks, and the Ticks were grinning sheepishly, the seemingly innocent expression on their faces begging to be considered. He looked between them, to Anala and Jason, before he shrugged and walked back out. Whatever it was, he did not want to get involved.

"Okay okay, if you love your Jesus thing, then that's fine, but I want that back," Santiago number one pointed to the toothbrush in Tick number one's hand.

"But we need it!"

"I wouldn't like to think what for," Anala muttered under her breath as she caught her breath from the coughing fit. She looked to Jason, and smirked. He grinned wickedly back, before sighing and intervening.

"Okay, guys, come on, give him back his toothbrush," he said calmly. The Ticks groaned.

"But we need it!" they all said in unison.

"And they need it too" he replied, reaching out for the toothbrush, shuddering against what they said. "In fact, they need it more than you need it." Each Tick looked to the other, and sadly, reluctantly, they gave the toothbrush back to Jason, who handed it back to the twins. "Now, are we settled? Great." He clapped his hands together and turned to Anala. "Now, this lighting thing I had going for our next big dance-off-"

"As if winning the World Jam wasn't enough?" the Satiago twins chirped.

"Yeah, I think we should take a break, I mean, just for a while. It's only been a week, and Moose is out tonight with Camille," Anala put in, folding her arms, a small smile on her face. "You know he'd love to hear whatever you've got."

"I know, but I'm geared! I loved the dance-off, and I wanted to get us back out there, show the world that we aren't just a once off," he replied. He shrugged and sighed, raking a hand over his head. "I just enjoyed the last time so much, even with all the pressure to get the Vault back. It was nice, to feel all that team-work, and MSA were so good."

"They were most definitely good, especially that Fly girl," the twins added together.

"Oh yeah, she was definitely good," the Ticks joined in. "Did you guys see the MSA crew in the Streets? They literally blew the crowds away, man!"

"Yeah, and Moose was absolutely brilliant! He told us all about it, and that was good, but when I saw him move out there, with the rain, it was a whole different story. I suppose that's where the water dance battle with Gwai came from," Anala noted. "When he accidentally set off the water, I thought we were goners, but he took it all in stride."

"Yes, yes, senorita, it was good," Santiago twin number two commented, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "We should consider gathering that MSA crew up again just so we can battle them."

"Oh, I like your thoughts-"

"Nada nada nada!" he waved his hands in the air dismissively. "Now, lets get back to-"

Anala heard the elevator squeak in protest, and she looked out over the open area, toward the elevator doors, wondering who'd be coming at this hour of the night. Jason heard it too, and over the twins and Ticks' bickering, followed her toward the elevator, gesturing to both Jacob and Vladd to follow them. Jacob heard the sound, and walked toward them, looking at the unopened elevator doors with tension in his eyes.

"This isn't good," he whispered to Jason. "All of our team is here. There shouldn't be anyone else-"

"Could be Moose and Camille ditching the dance," Jason noted, as Vladd went to stand by Anala, right in front of the elevator doors.

"Camille, ditch the dance she's been waiting for ever since she found her feelings for Moose?" Jacob noted, looking seriously at Jason. He was usually so quiet and thoughtful, but the slight narrow in his eyes warned Jason otherwise. This couldn't be good, not at all.

Suddenly, the doors were shoved open, and in fell Moose, a lump of silver gliding past their eyes. He collapsed on the floor, his breath caught between coughs, his body a shivering mess against the floor. He pushed himself up quickly, his arms cradling the silver light in his arms, and Anala was the first to react. She pushed herself down to his level, and her eyes widened.

"Oh my God, what happened to her?"

"I-I don-" Moose was shivering so badly his teeth chattered and she looked up to see he was in bad a shape as she was. Lines of sweat beaded his forehead, probably from carrying her: he wasn't a very strong guy, with arms as wiry as lines of copper, and his face was deathly white. His hands shivered from where they held the silent body against him. "I-I foun-" He couldn't even get the words out properly, and he slumped against the ground.

"Okay, Anala, help me carry Camille into your cot-Vladd, take Moose-" Jacob started, until Moose stopped him.

"No, please, let me stay-I don't know who-I'm sorry, Camille-I'm sorry-"

Vladd hitched him up by placing both his arms under Moose's, and he gently guided him away from Camille, who, by this time, was turned over by Anala. She gasped when she saw all the bruises, and the cuts, which gilded her skin in rivers of colours. Camille was knocked out cold, and the only source of warmth seemed to have come from the jacket Moose had put upon her covered shoulders.

"He carried her from NYU to here," she stated the obvious. "Who in God's name would do this to her?"

"I can think of a small group of people," Jason said softly, just as she and Jacob lifted her up into the space between them, her dress softening against their skin as they hefted the light Camille into a bed not twenty feet from where Moose had fallen. The twins came over and went pale when they saw Camille's silent face, her skin rattled with purple, green and yellow. Off in the corner, as far away from them as possible, Moose was hoarsely complaining that he should be with her, he needed to be there, but Vladd had placed both his hands on his shoulders and made him stay put.

Vladd was calmly speaking to him, but it didn't matter, as poor Moose was raising his voice against him, pushing against his featherlight hands whenever he placed them on Moose's chest to keep him from getting up.

"I wasn't with Camille when it happened-I'm sorry, I'm so-"

Vladd looked to Jacob for help, since it seemed Moose wouldn't calm down, and Anala looked over her shoulder to see him breaking down, his hands gathered in fistfuls of curly, dark hair that clung to his head. His breath sighed from his body, and he was drained. She nudged Jacob to go to him, just as she grabbed one of the girls to give her a hand in carrying Camille to a room where they could help her in private.

As they went off, Jacob and Jason stepped toward Moose, who stood up again, only to be pushed back down wordlessly by Vladd. His eyes widened, looking to Vladd, then to both Jacob and Jason.

"Please, let me-"

"Stop, Moose, now," Jacob ordered, his voice gentle, but even. He glanced to Vladd. "Get a cloth, and some ice, please." Vladd nodded, his eyes slightly wide from seeing his friends so distraught. Moose placed his hands on Jacob's chest, trying to gently move him, until Jacob put both of his hands on top, and forced him down onto the seat. "The girls are helping Camille, and she needs privacy. Now, are you going to walk in on her like that, or are you going to man up and calm down for her? She doesn't need to see you like this," he added softly, his voice calming down slightly from its faint pitch. Moose hng his head, tears ready to fall.

"I just couldn't believe-seeing her-she doesn't deserve-"

"No, that should not have happened, not to Camille, but at the moment, if that was you, and Camille was barging right in and having a fit like that, I don't think it'd make you feel any better," he crouched down as Vladd reappeared with ice and a bowl of water with a cloth seeped in it. He took the cloth and pressed it against Moose's burning skin. Moose flinched, but Jacob remained firm. "You need to relax, okay?"

After a split second, Moose seemed to relax into Jacob's hand as the cloth rested over his forehead. He closed his eyes and slumped. Jacob placed his other hand against his shoulder in order to hold him up.

"Could someone go get a spare change of clothes for Moose? Ticks? I think you may have something close enough to his size," he added, as he took a handful of ice from where Vladd left them in the bowl, and wrapped them in the cloth. He held them against Moose's neck, and suddenly, Moose flinched away from its icy touch. "Stay still, you've got a fever."

Moose grabbed the ice pack and held it close to his neck, his eyes fluttering closed as he felt its coldness seep into his body. He shivered and sneezed. Jacob eyed the shirt he was wearing, before he started to unbutton it.

"Here's something. It should fit the kid," one of the Ticks came up behind him just as he was doing so, a deep blue t-shirt and grey sweater, clean and fresh from the washing pointed over his shoulder. Jacob took it with one hand, and placed it on Moose's lap. The kid was ready to fall asleep by now, his shudders dying down slightly once the fresh clothes were on him.

"Feel better?"

Moose nodded, sitting up a little, his voice slightly hoarse again as he asked, "Can I see Camille now, please?" His voice was full of worry and a vicious plea cut through Jacob's body as he looked into those eyes, watching them water slightly under Camille's name.

"We've got her cleaned up, and changed. She's still asleep," Anala's voice softly carried through the open room, and Jacob looked over his shoulder to see her head peeking from the doorframe. "It's just bruises and small cuts, nothing too serious."

Immediately, Moose was up and out of the seat, walking toward the room Camille was in, and Jacob got up and followed a few seconds after him. Anala watched him dive right into the room, his hair flying out in unruly curls around his face as he walked in. As soon as Jacob and Jason looked into the bedroom, there he was, lying down next to her, the ice pack all but forgotten on the bedside table. His body curled up against hers, and Jacob could make out the faint whispers of apologies and mutterings that never, never would this ever, happen again.

He wondered faintly if Camille would hear his promises from where she still slept.

Right then and there, he knew Moose had fallen asleep against her, his arms around her shoulders as he pulled her close to him.

He closed his eyes later that night thinking that when it all came down to it, he never could let her go.

**xxxxxxxxx**


	2. Chapter 2

Anala slumped against the table top, her best friend, coffee, wrapped around her white fingers. She was tired after last night. She stayed awake just in case either of the two of them woke up screaming, wondering where on earth they were. Camille slept peacefully, bizarrely enough. There wasn't a peep out of her, but Moose was a different story.

He tossed and turned with the fire that blazed over his body. It was then, when he finally found sleep, that sleep itself became his enemy, and all the worry and the cold from the night before took it out on him. He coughed in his sleep, wheezy and full of pain, but he slept on. She kept after him with ice cold bags of water, and eventually, the heat on his face died down a little and he turned less and less.

She looked up to see Jacob come into the kitchen, yawning. "Heard you up last night," he said calmly. "I don't think anyone got a proper rest." She shook her head.

"Moose was bad last night. He slept through it all, but he couldn't stop coughing or moving. It was a wonder Camille slept at all," she added. Jacob stopped.

"She's been asleep for far too long," he stated, the hint of worry in his tone just enough to make her shake her head and reassure him.

"Don't worry, she's fine," Anala replied. "Kim and I checked her last night before she hit the sack. Only cuts and bruises, nothing else, no broken bones or sprains, no fractures of anything swollen." Jacob still seemed upset to her, so she laid a hand on his arm. "Don't worry. You know Kim: she was kicked out of college, yeah, but she still knows her medical theory enough to be sure of anything wrong."

"We're very lucky to have her," Jacob replied, sighing as he sat down quietly at the table. "But I still think we should wake her up."

"If we wake her up, Moose wont be too far behind," she commented, as she took the last sip of her coffee. "Well, I'll go find Kim and she'll give me a hand. You should go find Vladd. He was upset last night after seeing Moose like that."

"He's already up. He could help me try and calm Moose down when we wake him up too," he replied. "Should we ring Luke and tell him?" Anala stopped walking toward the door.

"I think we should," she replied. "And I think we should deal with the Samurai for this too."

Camille woke as soon as Anala tapped her shoulder. She jumped, her eyes wide, making the purple bruise just below her collarbone shine all the more.

"Wh-"

"Shh, sweetheart, it's just me, its just Anala," Anala whispered, holding her hands out for Camille. Kim stood a little ways off, still dressed in her PJs, and rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Where's Moose?" she asked, her voice standing on edge. She looked around her, as if dazed, until she saw Moose lying beside her, Jacob and Vladd standing over the cot on the opposite side, eyes darting between themselves. She started to breathe faster. "They said they'd get Moose- Oh God-" She started to cry then and there, her hands flying up to her face, the movement causing Moose to groan suddenly.

"Can we turn off the lights-'S too bright," he mumbled, his hand resting on Camille's arm, just as he opened his fever-bright eyes and saw her sitting slumped on the bed. "Whoa, Camille-" he sat up, bringing his arms around her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't know what was going on-"

"They said they were going to get you," Camille mumbled brokenly into his shirt. "They said they wanted you-"

"Forget about me," he said heatedly, his voice rising an inch. "Forget about what they said- Who done this, Camille, who?" When Camille continued to cry into his chest, he forgot about asking her any question that ever came to his mind since last night, and just held her. He slowly rocked her back and forth, soothing her in whispers that reminded Jacob of last night, of how Moose had curled up beside her.

"It's okay, Camille, it's all over, I promise. I won't ever let that happen again, I swear," he murmured into her hair, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. Even Anala could see he was still tired after last night, even if he'd slept all night. The dark circles under his eyes stood out along his creamy skin, and as he pulled the blankets up around both him and her, she could see the strength was waning out of him. "Shh, Camille, shh," he whispered against her still, his cheeks still flushed with fever, yet his attention solely on her.

"Th-They said they were coming after you, and they'd get you after what happened in the World Jam, and-and when they saw I wasn't with you, they-" Moose's eyes widened in shock.

"The House of Samurai done this, Camille?"

Camille nodded against him, and his muscles tensed, looking to Jacob for guidance. "Why would they- Just because we bet them in-"

"The Samurai never play fair," Jacob said, shrugging his shoulders. "We should've known after they they tried to play dirty with all of us and the Vault." Moose bit his lip, waving his hand through Camille's soft brown hair.

How could anyone do this to her? She didn't deserve it. He deserved it more.

"Please, don't let them get you, Moose, please-"

"Shh, forget about that now, Cammie, just forget about it. Go back to sleep, okay?" he continued to soothe her, but she moved against him, placing both her hands on his chest and pushing him back.

"Forget about you?" she said seriously, her face contorted in pain. "You want me to forget about all of this-"

"No Camille, I don't, I don't want that at all," he began, just as she continued.

"You think that this is okay, that what happened to me is nothing- that they didn't try to-" she crumpled over him, crying as badly as he was trying not to break. He was failing miserably. He placed gentle hands on her shoulders, gently pulling her to him, as he couldn't sit up.

His throat was on fire and his voice was going. His eyes burned and his stomach churned. He was warm and all he wanted was to rest, but how could he, when his Chameleon was in so much pain?

"I'm so sorry, Cammie, please forgive me for not coming sooner, please- I didn't mean to- When I saw you lying there, I couldn't-" he gritted his teeth, his arms holding her to the point of making her snap in two. "I couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe I waited for you at the dance, I should've come to your dorm, I could've stopped that, I swear-" he bit his lip. "I'm so sorry, Camille. I cant stop saying it- It's my fault, all my fault."

"It's not your fault, Moose, it's all of ours," Vladd said, breaking the tension in the room. His voice was tentative, as if worried that he should be speaking in the first place, but it was there all the same. "We should have known they would do something underhanded like this. And it may not have been just because of the World Jam. It could've just as easily been because Natalie is not part of Julian's family anymore. She left him behind."

Jacob turned and looked in wonder at the guy who barely ever spoke. "Vladd is right. Julian lost a lot because of all of us, and now he wants his revenge. He was coming after you, because you started it all for him."

Moose held Camille tighter as she drifted off into sleep, her body slowly untangling itself from around his body. "I don't want Camille hurt anymore," his voice sounded childlike. "I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

"Well, its part of being a family here, Moose," Jacob warned gently. His voice softened when he saw the defeated expression on his face. "No-one deserves this, it's just a Samurai's way of thinking. Those idiots don't know what they've done, because in their minds, they think its right."

"I'm really sorry guys, for how I acted last night- I just couldn't believe-"

"You acted normally, Moose,"Anala intervened. "We all felt the same way. The poor twins went to bed last night with a sister complex, thinking the worst would happen halfway through the night, and the Ticks actually considered going out and giving the Samurai a piece of their minds, which I wouldn't be opposed to right now," she added, a hint of annoyance in her tone. She folded her arms and stared into space with the fury of the devil in her eyes. "I just cant wait to put my hands around Carlos' neck, I bet he was the one-"

"Anala," Jacob gestured to Moose, who sat watching her, his face as white as a bed sheet. She immediately widened her eyed and held out her hands.

"It's okay, we wont head out or do anything," she filled in as fast as she could. "Not until you're both better and well."

Kim came to kneel before Moose as he continued to hold the sleeping form of Camille. She placed her hand on his forehead to test his temperature and coolly regarded him with her eyes.

"Temperatures up again," she noted. "Needs more rest, as per usual. How's the throat? You sound hoarse," she asked, her messy black hair tied back half-hazardously behind her head.

"It's not too bad," he replied. She cocked an eyebrow, before he said, "Hurts a little, but its nothing, really."

"And what about your head? Do you feel dizzy?"

"No, not really."

"Stop being so vague, please," she tapped him on the forehead, making him wince tiredly. He looked down along the bed sheets. "Go get some sleep, okay, kid?" She motioned to pick up Camille, but he held her resolutely.

"I'm not going to let her go," he said simply, and she rolled her eyes.

"Kid, as much as I know you love her, you're not helping by holding her like she's some rag-doll. You're practically falling asleep as we speak and you cant even keep up an argument with a voice that cant speak a sentence 'cos its about to go."

Slowly, he let her go, and Kim rested Camille's body right down among the bed covers, getting Anala's help as she pulled the covers up around her sleeping form. By the time Jacob had turned to Moose, he was already out for the count, still sitting against the bed board, his whole body pointing toward Camille as she lay comfortably against him.

Gently, so as not to wake him up, Vladd picked up the lightweight and pulled the covers up over him. He slept soundly, the faint rasp in his voice signalling the slight cough that hitched his breath.

"Sorry.." he mumbled in his sleep, and Vladd watched with dismay, as Moose allowed a tear to fall down his cheek, his face rubbed against Camille's.

* * *

_**A/N::**_Right, so this is a terribly moody 'fic. I had to push this one out in order to get it to continue... Do you guys still want me to keep going? It WAS meant to be a one-shot... God, I feel so sorry for the characters I write for... I seem to adore pain and death so much that all I wanna do is write about it... Please forgive me... ^^'

Oh! And a major thank you to everyone who said they liked this! I 3 you guys! :D

xxx


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